31^ 



Before the Beginning 



To lovers of good fruit everywhere, 
whether of watermelons by the 
light of a crescent moon, June 
apples scarce overripe and yet o'er the 
fence, of cheer up cherries or the juicy, 
sugary California prune, these few 
remarks are dedicated. We hope you 
may come out to California, and while 
basking beneath our vine and fig tree, 
eat of our seedless grapes and munch 
our California-Smyrna figs from over- 
head. 

To E. J. Wickson, author of "Cali- 
fornia Fruits," Elwood Cooper, Chas. H. 
Allen, Volney Rattan, H. P. Stabler, 
W. P. Lyon, Philo Hersey, A. Block, 
W. R. Radcliff, Mrs. B. R. Follett, Mrs. 
K. M. Tileston, Mrs. S. B. Hankins, 
Mrs. A. E. Gibson, Mrs. C. Goodwin, 
W. W. W., Housekeeper, Mrs. Weisen- 
danger, Mrs. H. A. Lee, Miss Emma 
Riehl, Mrs. E. C. Hatch, Miss Mabel 
Follett, Mrs. C. P. Taft, Mrs. Dr. 
Greenleaf, Miss Cooper, Mrs. Alice Rich- 
ardson and other authorities, thanks are 
tendered for ideas taken and recipes 
submitted. 



EAT 

CALIFORNIA 

FRUIT 



By ONE OF THE EATERS 



1904 

SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY 

SAN FRANCISCO 



fruit. Your home cook-book probably has less 
knowledge upon the subject than you. The writer 
scanned three standard cook-books yesterday — not 
one had one intelligent recipe for simple prep- 
aration of California fruit, such as apricots, 
peaches and prunes. 

You would have had better health. 

Maybe your health was good anyway; it's robust 
health that won't invite a little improvement. 

Ask your doctor if a pound and a half a day 
of California fruit will improve your health. If 
he says, yes, he is wise; if he says no — hardly 
tliink it possible — investigate further. You may 
need a new doctor. 

Take this home with you; even if you never 
buy California fruit, a neighbor might send over 
some when he returns the lawn mower, or the 
rich aunt in California make you a Christmas 
present. Then in the following pages you will 
find (1), Why California fruits are the best; 
( 2 ) , The California fruits as nutritious health 
foods, and (3), The different California fruits 
with simple recipes for table preparation. 



CHAPTER II 
Why California Fruits Are Best 

The best climate is essential in the production 
of the best fruit. Do not permit wiseacres who 
would plant persimmons in a snowdrift to teach 
you otherwise. The man Avho "must have frost in 
his fruit" may as well eat frozen fruit as to expect 
a frost stunted tree to bring forth perfect fruit. 

The scientist Boussingault says that climate 
in the production of fruit is essentially important 
in no less than six phases; a different degree 
of temperature is required for (1) germination, 
(2) chemical changes, (3) flowering. (4) devel- 
opment of seeds, (5) elaboration of saccharine 
4 



juices, (G) development of aroma or bouquet, 
each step requiring more heat than its predecessor. 

The long California summer gives to each 
change its due consideration, and ripens the whole 
into a harvest fit for consumption on high 
Olympus — or even in New York. In the month 
following the formation of seeds in fruit, the 
mean temperature should not be below 66.2 degrees 
Fahrenheit (Boussingault) . This is not a matter 
of guess work, but of experiment and observation. 
The germinating time, the chemical change period, 
the blossom season, the seed growth, the sugar 
making, the creation of aroma ; each must be 
protected by a California climate of sufficient 
length and above a certain minimum of temper- 
ature to create perfection. Noichere in the world 
does the climate so nearly meet these ideal 
requirements as in California. 

But that is not alone the reason why Cali- 
fornia fruits are best. Count de Gasparin points 
out that not alone sufficient heat but ahundance 
of continuous sunshine is a requisite of perfection. 
Without light there is no fructification. You 
might plant a tree in your cellar and try raising 
fruit by steam heat if you doubt this. 

Therefore, the deliciousness of California fruit 
is largely because of the State's abundance of 
clear sunshine. The average number of cloudy 
days, according to the United States \Yeather 
Bureau, is in the principal cities of the East 
from x\pril to September, four times the number 
in the fruit centers of California. 

\Yhen you eat California fruit you eat sunshine 
fruit. "Please, ISlr. Waiter, a pound of sunshine 
for dessert." 

Nor is this all. There is a third reason, and 
this is the one that makes summer life in 
California as agreeable to humanity as it is to 
fruit — the absence of humidity. 

In the East, the winter is the period of low 
5 



humidity, if there be such a period, and the 
summer that of high humidity. In California, 
vice versa. Your clothes stick to you in the 
Eastern summer, and you don't feel like sticking 
to anything. Humid summer weather is not good 
for fruit. In California we have no such summer 
^^eather, 

Professor Tyndall said that during periods of 
high humidity, clouds of vapor act as a screen 
to the earth — and thereby lessen the chemical 
efiects of the sun in fruit-ripening. On your 
Eastern humid days, no matter how bright the 
sun to your eye, the water vapor in the air 
absorbs the sun's rays and retards the ripening 
of fruit. We have no such days in California. 
Our fruit ripens thoroughly. 

The clear, brilliant sunshine of California; 
not a scorching heat, for neither man, nor beast, 
nor plant wilts under it, the long weeks of cloud- 
loss weather each day molding the fruit toward 
perfection in some detail; with such climatic 
environment do you wonder that California fruit 
is something apart by itself, not to be compared 
with fruit of the same names, raised elsewhere? 
If you bought an apple you would inquire if it 
were a Jonathan or a wild crab — if a nut, whether 
a pig nut or hickory nut — in buying fruit ask 
if it be California fruit or otherwise. 

All this may seem farfetched to you. To us 
of California it is an old story, for our main- 
tenance depends upon an intelligent under- 
standing and application of climatic conditions. 
Our different varieties of fruits demand different 
variations of our sunshiny climate and our fertile 
soil. 

Of the wonderful variety of California soils 
that grow these fruits, little may be said here. 
To the orchardist a thorough knowledge of them 
is most valuable, for upon that knowledge depends 
the distribution and planting of trees. 



To the consumer the fruits speak for themselves. 
They seem to have the lightness and vitality of 
the soil, the aroma and bouquet of magic sun- 
shine and the juiciness and sugar of the fair 
land of romance whence one would not expect 
insipidity nor acridity. 

CHAPTER III 
As Nutritious Health Foods 

Dr. Kellogg, the scientist who has been watch- 
ing the digestion of the people, says in Good 
Health that he has experimented with 16,000 
cases of stomach germs causing indigestion. He 
discovered first that none of these germs could 
be made to grow in fruit juice, and, second, 
that fruit juice would not support germ life in 
any case. In extracts of grains they grew, though 
not vigorously; in beef tea, the most deadly 
flourished. 

In France extensive experiments have shown 
appendicitis to exist among the meat eaters; 
the classes using fruits largely are exempt. Our 
present day life with its excess of meat eating 
among certain classes promotes appendicitis, 
indigestion and various germ diseases of the 
digestive apparatus. To counteract this germ 
culture, one should eat plentifully of California 
fruits — say a pound and a half a day. 

But California fruits are not only disease 
preventives and appetizing side dishes. They are 
important foods which are needed to make one 
physically and nervously strong. Any scientific 
work dealing with food will tell you that fruit 
and nuts contain large quantities of sugar and 
fats, that acid fruits are needed every day in 
the year, and that the nearest to a substitute 
for regular physical exercise is a plentiful fruit 
diet. There is no better way in which to imbibe 
a goodly amount of absolutely pure water than 



to eat plenty of California fruit. Any physician 
can tell you of the merits of the fruit in giving 
strength and tone to the digestive organs. The 
food values of the difTerent fruits will be dealt 
with in connection with the recipes given in the 
following chapter. 

If you follow these recipes in the very simple 
suggestions offered for the preparation of the 
fruit, and use the fruits liberally, you will 
become a more enthusiastic spokesman in behalf 
of California fruits as health food products than 
the writer is herein. 

CHAPTER IV 
Preparation for the Table 

The prune is the best known and most widely 
marketed of California deciduous fruits. The 
California prune is of a class of its own and has 
absorbed the larger part of the European market 
in competition with the longer known prune of 
Southern Europe. This California prune is noth- 
ing more nor less than a very nutritious, sugary 
and delicious plum. In its preparation for the 
table the aim should be to restore it as nearly 
as possible to its ripe condition on the tree. 

The California prune is a wonderful food fruit. 
As you buy it in the market, you pay for one 
third the water that you do in purchasing beef- 
steak, eggs or potatoes. In amount of carbo- 
hydrates, starches and sugars the prune surpasses 
all the other foods. 

The prune more nearly approaches the ideal 
human food than any other article of diet. But, 
after all, we do not view food from a health 
point of view altogether. It must be appetizing 
and make the mouth water if it is to be popular. 
And there is no more delicious, appetizing a dish 
than six or eight California prunes, properly 
prepared. 

8 



There is everything in the selection and prep- 
aration of prunes. Skilful preparation will place 
at 3'our plate almost the same luscious, purple 
fruit that hangs from the tree in August. 

Prunes are classified as to size by the number 
to the pound. You will observe stamped on 
the boxes. 30-40, 40-50, 50-60, 60-70, 70-80, 80-90, 
90-100, these numbers indicating that between 
thirty and forty make a pound, and so on. As 
a rule the grocer should ask you a half cent a 
pound more for forty-fiftys than for fifty-sixtys, 
and a half cent more for fifty-sixtys than for 
sixty-seventys, though the relative values vary, 
depending on supplies. The larger prune is more 
valuable, because the proportion of pit and skin 
is less. Prunes that run over one hundred and 
ten to the pound are too small to be very edible. 
The middle sizes are best liked. 

Now, go to the grocer and ask him for five 
pounds of California prunes out of one of his 
twenty-five or fifty-pound boxes, and for your 
own satisfaction observe the size stencilled on 
the box— "50-60" or the like. 

Wash the prunes carefully. They are packed 
in California wit'ii cleanliness and care, but no 
harm is done in rinsing them well. They may 
have sugared; that is the fruit sugar may have 
exuded through the skin and given them a white 
appearance. No harm is done. 

Then, soak the prunes. You have bought 
prunes nithout icater, but to get them back to 
their fresh state their present dry weight must 
be nearly doubled by absorption of water. They 
lost that in curing. Ten or twelve hours of 
soaking in cold water will be enough, or less 
in tepid water. Under no circumstances soak 
them till the skins begin to break. When soaking 
begins add sugar as desired. The California 
prunes are ssveet; but sugar put to soak with 
them is changed during the association to fruit 
9 



sugar. The prunes, while not materially sweeter 
to the taste, are richer in flavor. Do not add 
sugar to prunes after cooking; you injure the 
flavor. 

Now, your prunes are palatable just as they 
are after soaking. A great many are eaten so, 
and those who acquire this "prune habit" usually 
abide with it. But we will presume you want 
your prunes cooked a little. 

Keep them in the water in which they were 
soaked and set them to simmer in a broad pan 
so that the prunes shall not be more than three 
inches deep. The water should hardly cover them, 
but should show among the surface prunes. Then 
let 'em simmer. 

Do not boil prunes; that is what sjioils prunes, 
according to most epicures. 

Simmer, simmer, simmer, simmer, simmer. 

Keep the lid on; shake gently now and then; 
don't interfere with a spoon. If the water is 
above 180 degrees Fahrenheit, it is too hot. 

When the skins of the prunes are tender (take 
one up in a spoon and see if the skin breaks 
easily between thumb and finger ) , the prunes 
are done. Pour off the liquor and boil it down 
to a syrup by itself if desired. Use as much 
as you wish of it with the prunes. Serve the 
prunes about eight large ones or twelve small 
ones to a dish with a tablespoonful or more 
of cream, and you have one of the most delicious 
dishes in existence. 

Greatest of breakfast foods is the prune. With or 
without cereals it is an appetizing, satisfying food. 

The writer lives in the Santa Clara Valley 
where fresh fruit is obtainable in abundance 
cheaply at all times of the year. Yet rarely he 
goes without prunes for breakfast; for in prunes, 
properly prepared, he finds fresh fruit, good food, 
and good health. 



A little claret or sauterne poured over prunes 
just as cooking is finished adds a flavor liked 
by many. 

One word about how to treat prunes. Don't 
suppose because the prune keeps better than 
any other cooked food that it will remain pala- 
table if abused. Cook not too many at a time; 
if you have them on the table constantly as you 
should, you should not in slovenly style cook a 
month's supply at a time. You would not think 
of baking bread or cooking meat so. 

Dr. Hanson, of Cooper Medical College, ISan 
Francisco, who has made a study of prunes, says: 

"Nutritious value, pound of prunes equals a 
gallon of milk; greater than pound of bread 
and as cheap. Bread and prunes are as 
economical a diet as bread alone and far more 
healthful. Fresh meat, fish, milk or eggs, are 
not even approximately as valuable food as 
prunes and are much more expensive propor- 
tionately." 

In a lunch for school or the factory you may 
substitute stewed or steamed prunes for part of 
the bread, and, pound for pound, you will be at 
no greater expense. 

There is no fruit more healthful. A dish of 
prunes a half hour before retiring and a dish 
at breakfast, and stomach ills will disappear. 
As a tonic and regulator of the digestive and 
assimilative apparatus of the human body, the 
modest California prune without an M.D. to 
its name, has unequalled value. When you are 
inclined to take somebody's bitters or sarsaparilla. 
eat prunes : when some patent medicine war- 
ranted to clear your mind or your stomach or 
your blood, appeals to you — why, eat more prunes. 
Cheaper, more efficacious, much more pleasant 
to take, the California prune is not only Greatest 
of Breakfast Foods but as a health conserver is 
better than all the patent medicines you can 
11 



pour from a bottle — even though a weigTity name 
be blown thereon. 

Some recipes are given herein. The good 
housewife will adapt the prune when she finds 
its value to puddings, pies and cakes to suit her 
fancy. Upon a foundation of steamed or stewed 
prunes are the more fancy edibles erected. 

Of the California prunes, ninety per cent are 
the so-called French variety, coming hence from 
France. Dark skinned, clear meated, sweet 
prunes, they have no superiors. The Imperial 
and Sugar prunes, averaging larger in size, are 
somewliat sweeter. The Rote de Sargent type, 
the German, Fallenbey, etc., w^hile rich in sugar 
have a slight acidity, liked by many. The Silver 
prune is the only light prune, a very large amber- 
colored fruit like the egg plum. The latter is 
sour and without the nutrition of the Silver 
prune; do not accept as a substitute. 



CHAPTER V 
Worth While Recipes— Prunes 

Stewed Prunes — Wash the prunes well, put in 
a kettle, just cover with cold water and 
let stand all night. In morning put on the stove 
in the same water. Boil until tender. Don't 
stir or mash them. Set back on the stove where 
t'hey will simmer until the juice is a thick syrup 
and very little of it. Eat when cold with cream. 

Steaved With Jackets Off — Wash thoroughly. 
Put in a fruit kettle; cover with cold water. 
Do not have the fire too brisk, as at no time 
must the prunes boil. Let them come slowly 
to the scalding point and scald for ten or 
fifteen minutes. Remove from the stove, pour 
off the hot w^ater and cover with cold water so 
that the prunes may be easily 'handled. Slip 
the skins off and replace prunes in the kettle. 
12 



Cover with water and simmer slowly thirty or 
forty minutes. Use no sugar. 

Stewed Prunes With Orange — Soak three 
quarts of prunes over night in enough water to 
cover them. Add one cup of sugar and a sliced 
orange or lemon. Cover with water and stew 
two hours. Prunes cooked in this way have a 
rich color and flavor. 

Steamed Prunes — Wash the prunes two or 
three times in warm water. Put them into a 
stew-pan with half a cup of water. Cover closely 
and let them steam till the water is absorbed. 
Do not stir or break the fruit. When cool 
place in a glass dish and grate a lemon peel 
over them, sprinkle with sugar and cover with 
whipped cream. 

Steamed Prunes — Wash thoroughly; steam 
until the fruit is swollen to its original size 
and is tender. Sprinkle with powdered sugar 
and squeeze lemon juice over them. 

Boiled Prunes — Wash carefully. Put to boil 
with plenty of water, adding sliced lemon to suit. 
Cook until tender, adding a little sugar at finish. 
Serve in their own syrup cold. This ''fast cook- 
ing" recipe does not conform to the conventions 
in cooking prunes, but finds favor with many. 

Prunes With Whipped Cream — Cook in usual 
manner. Cut in two, remove pit, serve cold with 
whipped cream as dessert. A delicious dish. 

Prune Pudding — Take three tablespoonfuls of 
sugar, two of butter, one egg, one large cup of 
buttermilk, one teaspoonful of soda dissolved in 
milk, one and a half cups of prunes, seeded, and 
cliopped fine, one and one-half cups of flour, a 
little salt and nutmeg. Steam three hours. This 
is to be served with a sauce made of one cup of 
butter, one spoonful of flour, a cup of sugar and 
two cups of hot water. Boil thoroughly and flavor. 

Prune Pudding — Remove the pits from a large 
cupful of stewed prunes and chop fine. Add the 
13 



whites of t'hree eggs and half a cup of sugar 
beaten to a stiff froth. Mix well, turn into a 
buttered dish and bake thirty minutes in a 
moderate oven. Serve with whipped cream. 

Pkune Pie — Line a pie-pan with pastry and 
fill with pitted, stewed prunes. When baked cover 
with a meringue of the whites of three eggs 
sweetened with three heaping tablespoonfuls of 
powdered sugar. Return pie to the oven and 
let it brown. The meringue may be replaced by 
whipped cream. 

Eden Vale Prune Whip — Take one pint large 
stewed prunes, one-third pint thick cream, the 
whites of six eggs, and raspberry or Loganberry 
jelly. After thoroughly draining the prunes, pit 
them and put them through the colander; avoid 
rubbing the skin through, as much as possible. 
Beat the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth; then 
by degrees beat this into the sifted prunes. If 
not sweet enough to suit the taste add a table- 
spoonful of sugar. The delicacy of this dish 
depends largely upon the thoroughness with 
Avhich these ingredients are beaten together. 
When they are well beaten together, pour them 
into a glass dish. Whip the cream and spread 
evenly over the top of the pudding, then fleck 
the whipped cream with bits of the jelly. Serve 
with cream, or, if preferred, with a custard made 
from the yolks of the six eggs. 

Prune Jelly — A quart of prunes stewed in a 
quart of water until they fall to pieces. Press 
through colander. Soak a box of gelatin in a cup 
of cold water, and pour on gradually a cup of 
boiling water and stir until thoroughly dissolved. 
Add one pint of the prune pulp, the juice of a 
lemon and a little sugar. Strain and serve with 
whipped cream. 

Prune Charlotte — Stew one and a half pounds 
of prunes, pit them and sweeten with one cup 
of sugar. Line a well-buttered pudding dish 
14 



with slices of bread and butter. Pour in the 
prunes and flavor Avith vanilla. Cover with bread 
and butter and bake. When done turn it out, 
sift sugar over it and serve with cream. 

Stuffed Prunes — Steam the prunes until soft, 
pit them and fill each one with plain fondant 
or with fondant and chopped nuts mixed. 

CHAPTER VI 
Raisins and Hoav to Prepare Them 

The interior valleys of California j^roduce the 
finest raisins in the world — and the most. The 
raisin is the cured form of very sugary and 
delicious grapes — the Muscatel, Thompson's Seed- 
less, the Seedless Muscatel, etc. At the present 
retail prices, this fine fruit should be a house- 
hold article. It may be bought in one pound 
cartons or in cases of thirty-six cartons or in 
cases of layers. A case should be the accom- 
paniment of every sideboard. Possessed of the 
dietetic value of other California cured fruit, 
raisins are also highly nutritious. 

If when a child wants candy or pastry it 
were given raisins instead, there would be a 
happier and healthier rising generation. Many 
raisins are grown seedless and a large part of 
the rest of the product is seeded. The raisin 
is a natural confection, and the finest of 
all. More and more as the healthfulness of the 
seeded California raisin becomes known, it must 
become a household necessity not to be put on 
the table after a meal when one has finished, 
but as a "ready reference" dish like a barrel 
of cellar apples. What a tribute it is to Cali- 
fornia raisins that they are brought on the table 
with nuts after one has eaten all else that he 
can, to give further enjoyment to the meal! 

Raisins, like prunes, are delicious when returned 



to their original form as near as may be possible. 
Soak them, simmer them, as you would a prune. 
The result will be most pleasing. Use them 
alone or mix with other California fruits. Eaisin 
juice extracted in cooking is simply unfermented 
grape juice and very pleasing to weak stomachs. 

In bringing out the good qualities of puddings, 
cakes and mince pies, the California raisin has 
no rival. Thanksgiving without raisins would be 
like Thanksgiving without turkey. But there 
are fine uses to which raisins are adapted that 
are just becoming known. The recipes following 
convey some of the new ideas. Try them; you 
will like them: 

Raisin Bread — Ordinary home-made bread 
dough; mix half pound seeded raisins for each 
two loaves of bread and bake in usual way. 
The children will cry for it; give it to them 
for it v/ill do no harm, but help remove the row 
of medicine bottles on the upper pantry shelf. 

Raisin Sandwiches — Chop fine one-half pound 
seeded raisins and one-fourth pound walnuts, 
together. Mix with a little mayonnaise dressing 
and spread between well-buttered pieces of steam 
bread. The most delicious sandwich ever offered 
a child. 

Baked R.^^isin Pudding — Put eight ounces of 
dripping into a basin; warm it, and work in 
one pound of flour mixed with one tea spoonful 
of baking powder. Add one teaspoonful of ground 
mixed spice, one ounce of candied lemon peel 
cut up small, four ounces of moist sugar, and 
six ounces of seeded raisins. Mix them well and 
make the whole into a paste by adding two eggs 
beaten up in one teacupful of milk. Turn the 
mixture into a well-greased tin or dish; put in 
a moderate oven and bake for an hour. When 
done take it out, turn the pudding out of the 
tin or dish, sprinkle it over with caster sugar 
and serve. 



Boiled Raisin Pudding — Put one-half pound 
each of seeded raisins, flour and shred beef suet 
into a basin, mix them, and add gradually one 
breakfast cupful of milk and a couple of well- 
whipped eggs. Place the mixture in a floured 
cloth, tie it up securely, or put it into a buttered 
basin, cover with a cloth, place it in a saucepan 
of boiling water, and boil from two hours and a 
half to three hours, by which time the pudding 
should be done. Turn it out and serve. 

Raisin Cake — Put one pound of butter into 
a basin, warm it, beat it to a cream and add 
gradually one pound of sifted flour, the same of 
crushed loaf sugar and the yolks of six eggs. 
Stir these well and when they are incorporated 
add one wineglassful of brandy, one grated nut- 
meg, one teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda dis- 
solved in one tablespoonful of water, and lastly, 
the whites of six eggs, whipped to a froth. Work 
well until the mixture has a light and creamy 
appearance, then add one pound of seeded raisins 
or cleaned Sultanas, finely chopped and sprinkled 
over with one breakfast cupful of flour to make 
them mix in easier. Pour the mixture into 
a tin or mould lined with well-buttered paper, 
bake for an hour and a half, turn it out when 
done and it is ready for use. A few rose leaves 
steeped in the brandy will add to the flavor of 
the cake. 

Raisin Crusts — Seed some bloom raisins, put 
them in a stew-pan with a small quantity of 
moist sugar and sufficient sweet wine to moisten, 
and stew them. Cut some pieces of bread about 
three inches square and one-half inch thick, and 
trim off the crust. Put a lump of butter or lard 
into a deep frying pan, and when boiling put 
in the squares of bread and fry them until 
lightly and evenly browned; next drain them well, 
put them on a hot dish, pour the stewed raisins 
over, dust them with caster sugar and serve. 



Raisin Sherbet — Put three pounds of raisins 
in a stone or earthenware jar, with four small 
lemons cut into thin slices, and one-half pound 
of caster sugar; pour in six quarts of water and 
let it remain for three days, stirring it three or 
four times each day. Next strain the liquor 
through flannel, and pour it into stone bottles, 
but without quite filling them. Cork the bottles, 
wiring them down tightly and keep them in a 
cool cellar. In three-weeks' time the sherbet is 
read}^ for use. 

RoLY Poly Pudding — Take one-half pound 
shredded beef suet, mix with three breakfast 
cupfuls of flour sifted with one teaspoonful of 
baking powder and a pinch of salt. Mix with 
water to a rather stiff paste. Roll out, sprinkle 
with one pound seeded raisins, roll up, folding 
in ends neatly, tie up in a scalded and floured 
cloth, plunge into boiling water and cook steadily 
for two hours. Serve with plain sweet sauce or 
cream. 

Mince Meat — Take one pound boiled lean meat, 
one pound shredded suet, one pound apples, rind 
of one large lemon, one-lialf pound candied peel, 
2 pounds raisins, one pound Sultanas. Mince 
all finely. Add level teaspoonful of mixed spice, 
the juice of a lemon, and mix all together with 
a bottle of raisin wine. Keep closely covered 
w^hen cooking. Use a pinch of salt. 

Ginger Cake — One and one-half pounds of flour, 
one pound of molasses, one-fourth pound of 
butter, one-fourth pound of brown sugar, one 
ounce of ginger, one-half ounce of spice, one nut- 
meg gi-ated, three eggs, a little lemon peel, and 
one pound of seeded raisins. Mix the flour, sugar, 
ginger and spices together. Warm the butter 
and molasses and add to the other ingredients. 
Dissolve one teaspoonful of soda in a small half 
cup of warm milk, to which add the eggs well 
beaten, mix all thoroughly, pour into a buttered 
18 



cake tin and bake in a moderate oven for one 
hour. 

Raisin Custard — Sweeten one pint of milk 
with sugar to taste, grate in a half lemon rind, 
stir in three well-beaten eggs. Line a buttered 
basin or mould with raisins. Spread some slices 
of State Madeira or sponge cake in layers, with 
raisins sprinkled between. Pour over the custard, 
lay on top a sheet of buttered paper, tie a 
cloth securely on and boil gently for one hour. 

Bread Pudding — To one pint of milk add one 
tablespoonful of sugar, a very little salt, and 
pour it boiling on one-half pound of bread crumbs. 
Add butter the size of a walnut and cover with 
a plate for an hour. Then stir in four well- 
whisked eggs, one pound of raisins, adding vanilla, 
lemon or nutmeg flavoring. Pour into a buttered 
basin, place a buttered paper on top, tie securely 
in a cloth and boil for one and one-half hours. 

Raisin Cake — Three cups of flour, one-half 
pound of butter, one cup of brown sugar, one-half 
cup of milk, three eggs, three tablespoonfuls of 
molasses, one teaspoonful of soda, two teaspoon- 
fuls of cream of tartar, one-fourth pound of 
blanched almonds, one and one-half pounds of seeded 
raisins, one fourth pound of shredded peel, one 
grated nutmeg. Mode — Beat butter and sugar to 
a cream, add molasses, then eggs, one by one 
unbeaten. Add the other ingredients previously 
well mixed with the flour, and lastly soda and 
cream of tartar in a small half cup of milk. Pour 
into a well-buttered paper-lined tin, and bake in 
a steady oven from two to three hours. 

Raisin Stuffing for Turkey — Take one pound 
of freshly minced beef, a small onion, a little 
parsley and thyme, one pound of seeded raisins 
and a tablespoonful of butter. Mix these and 
cook for about ten minutes. Grate some stale 
bread, or preferably crackers, and with a beaten 
egg bind the mixture. To keep it moist, add 
19 



two tablespoonfuls of any good table sauce, salt 
and pepper to taste. 

Stuffed Apples — Take large, green apples, pare 
and core liberally, chop finely some seeded raisins, 
with a small piece of butter, fill and sprinkle 
a small quantity of sugar on top. Tie up each 
apple in a thin water paste, then securely in a 
cloth, and plunge into boiling water and cook 
two hours. Serve at once with plain butter 
sauce or cream. 

Oatmeal and Raisin Gingerbread — Warm one 
pound of molasses with one-quarter pound of 
butter, lard or dripping and one-quarter pound 
of brown sugar. Mix with one and one-half 
pounds of fine oatmeal one-half pound of flour, 
one teaspoonful of baking powder, one table- 
spoonful of ground ginger, one-half teaspoonful 
of mixed spice, one ounce of candied peel cut 
finely, and one pound of raisins chopped small. 
Pour the molasses, etc., over the dry ingredients 
and mix well. Pour into a buttered tin and 
bake. A portion of this mixture can be made 
into squares or nuts and baked in a slow oven. 
Eggs may be worked in as for ordinary cake 
if preferred. This is especially good and nour- 
ishing- for children. 



CHAPTER VII 
Peaches, Apples and Plums 

Who does not know the most delicious fruit? 
It's a -peach. The California peach is beyond 
all comparison the best. Averaging nearly twice 
the size of its Eastern cousin, it has the aroma 
and the saccharine sweetness that only a long 
cloudless summer can give. 

Like prunes, peaches should be restored as near 
as possible in preparation for the table to the 
ripe fruit on the tree. One may buy peaches, 
•20 



peeled or unpeeled, and there is great difference 
of opinion as to which is the finest. If you 
buy unpeeled and desire them otherwise, you can 
peel them yourself, after giving a hot-water bath. 

Let the cured peaches stand in tepid water a 
half hour and then stir vigorously, washing 
clean. Rinse in cold w^ater and then put to 
soak. Peaches should be allowed to absorb all 
moisture possible before cooking, and whatever 
sugar is to be added should be sprinkled over 
them while they are soaking. 

Simmer your peaches. Do not boil them to 
pieces but let them simmer and re-ripen just as 
if the sun were doing the work. Pour off the 
syrup when the peaches are done, and boil it 
down and partly cool before pouring over the 
fruit. Served with cream, it will make you 
think you are in a California peach orchard in 
midsummer — and there is no more epicurean 
place. 

Baked Peaches — Fill porcelain pan with 
peaches, halved, skin side dowm, well soaked. 
Bake slowly, baste frequently, serve with cream. 
Nothing better. 

Cured Peaches — Cover several pounds of 
peaches with water and allow to remain twenty- 
four hours. Add more water if it is all absorbed 
after twenty-four hours, as there must be some 
water present at the end of that time. For 
each pound of cured fruit take three-quarters 
pound of sugar, three thin slices of a California 
lemon, a three-inch piece of cinnamon, two 
cloves and one or two kernels of allspice, add 
the liquid from the cured peaches, and boil for 
five or ten minutes, stirring constantly. Strain 
with a sieve and place in a saucepan with the 
evired peaches. Boil until the peaches are very 
tender, the time can only be determined by exam- 
ining and tasting the fruit. This recipe will 
be found gi'eatly superior to spiced preserves 
21 



made from fresh fruit, and much easier to pre- 
pare. When convenient use rain-water in this 
recipe. 

Nectarines — This juicy, thin-skinned fruit is 
liked above all others by many people for its 
well-defined, original flavor. In preparation the 
nectarine is governed by the same rules of the 
game as peaches. 

California peaches, plums, etc., may be found 
fresh in Eastern and European markets, being 
forwarded under refrigeration. 

The Apple — Nothing need be said of the apple 
as an apple. To the order of apple-eaters belong 
all wise people, and he who lunches in midsummer 
on bread and butter, a dish of prunes, a little 
olive oil, a handful of raisins and a goodly 
apple is wise beyond common wisdom. Yet many 
do not know the flavor and keeping qualities 
of the California apples — ^^the Newtown Pippins, 
the White Winter Pearmain, the Fancy Red 
(never mind the old name), the Bellefleur and 
others. The English market esteems the Newtown 
Pippin of the Pajaro and Santa Clara Valleys, 
California, ahove all other varieties. Visit Covent 
Garden in December and ascertain for yourself. 
The proof of the apple is in the demand, and 
the fifteen hundred carloads that the Pajaro 
Valley produces each year do not fill the demand. 

It is needless to offer apple recipes here. Every 
competent housewife is familiar with the use 
of the most widely grown American fruit. 

The Grape — California grapes are best known 
in their raisin form and as the finest of wines, 
but each year the increase in shipments of the 
fruit fresh under refrigeration to Eastern 
markets l)ecomes greater. The magnificent White 
jNIuscat, the Royal Flame Tokay, the Great Black 
Hamburg, the Emperor and others have no rivals 
in Eastern markets except among themselves in 
the favor of people who know grapes. 
22 



The Plum — The California plums are shipped 
fresh all over the United States. The improve- 
ments made by Luther Burbank, of Santa Rosa, 
in the introduction and propagation of new- 
varieties place the California plum so far ahead 
of all others in size and flavor as to admit 
of no comparison. 



CHAPTER VIII 

Apricots, Pears, Fi^s, Olives and Othen 
Fruits 

The apricot is a royal California fruit. Nowhere 
else in the United States does it so nearly 
approach perfection. England and the United 
States divide its consumption, cured (or dried) 
and canned, it being like the peach, largely pre- 
pared for market in both forms. 

The apricot is a deliciously flavored fruit, hav- 
ing also many of the dietetic qualities of the 
prune. Of all table fruits it is the prettiest, 
being in its red amber beauty a feast to the eye 
as well as to the palate. 

Apricots should be soaked from ten to twenty 
hours, using plenty of sugar. If they are then 
ripe and appetizing do not cook. Instead drain 
them until the fruit is dry. Boil the syrup 
down one half and pour over the fruit. If the 
fruit be a little green, that is, was dried before 
thoroughly ripe, you can simmer an hour or 
tAvo to complete the task of the sun. If you 
hoil apricots you will be expelled from the order 
of excellent cooks. 

Pears — The California pear is used chiefly 
fresh (being sent to England and the East under 
ice), and canned. Nevertheless, the cured pear 
is growing in favor. Many people, indeed, like 
to eat them just as they come from the drying 
23 



field, the pear having a rare richness that 
condensed in the cured product is unusually 
appetizing. Pears are better for plenty of 
soaking before cooking. The luscious ripe pear 
is a reservoir of water and the cured fruit should 
be given ample opportunity to get back its 
normal moisture. Pears are served baked more 
often than any other way. Soak till they assume 
normal size, then place in layers in baking-pan 
sprinkling with sugar. Bake very slowly, remem- 
bering that violent cooking of California fruit 
gives much the result of scorching by the sun. 
A few baked pears add much to anybody's 
luncheon. 

Figs — For twenty years George C. Roeding and 
other fruit enthusiasts, of California, tried to 
raise figs equal to the Smyrna. Mr. Roeding 
was at last successful in getting at the secret 
of the complete fructification of the Smyrna fig 
and as a result California produces figs superior 
to the Smyrna, driving the latter out of the 
market. Mr. Roeding, aided by Secretary Wilson 
and Dr. L. 0. Howard, of the Department of 
Agriculture, succeeded in 1900 in producing 
genuine Smyrna figs in California, after import- 
ing first the Smyrna fig tree, Ficus Carica, then 
the Capri fig or wild fig necessary in pollenization 
and finally the insect, the blastophaga wasp, 
which alone carries the pollen from one fiower 
to another. The result is a fig, California- 
Smyrna, or Calimyrna, as it is known — superior 
in flavor, size and cleanliness to the imported. 

While the fig is used chiefly as it comes from 
the box, being a delicious fruit at any time, it 
is improved by being well soaked and slightly 
cooked. Like the raisin the fig is used in cakes, 
etc. For jams and marmalades, sauces and 
preserves the fig is unexcelled, while recently 
crystallization has taken a part of the finest 
product. Cured or fresh, the fig is medicinally 
24 



a gentle laxative and shares with the olive the 
title of healing fruit. The fig is a nutritious 
food and in Southern Europe is a most important 
article of diet. As Americans come to be better 
acquainted with California fruits, the fig will 
doubtless become a factor in the domestic economy 
of every household. 

Cherkies — California cherries very largely sup- 
ply the markets of the world for no other section 
grows them in such quantity nor of such quality. 
Aside from those shipped fresh under ice or 
canned, some are pitted and cured (dried) and 
others are cured with the pits in them. 

Their preparation is exactly similar to that 
of the prune, except it is sometimes necessary 
to soak thirty hours, and sugar should be 
freely used. Don't boil, but simmer till tender. 
Serve with cream and you will have a dish equal 
to fresh California cherries — and who wants 
anything superior? 

Olives and Olive Oil — Olives have been grown 
in California for 135 years — since the advent 
of the mission fathers; commercially, since that 
pioneer, Elwood Cooper (now State Horticultural 
Commissioner), set out his orchards thirty-five 
years ago. The industry is now growing rapidly, 
there being two million trees in the State. Since 
the fruit is the finest grown and the methods 
of preparation scientific and cleanly, there is no 
longer an excuse for using imported olives or 
olive oil. The California olive is on the market 
in three forms : ( 1 ) , ripe pickled olives ; ( 2 ) , 
green pickled olives; (3), olive oil. With Cali- 
' fornians, the ripe, pickled olives have on the 
whole the preference above the green. 

Olives and olive oil are perhaps unrivaled as 

health foods. The olive as a table relish needs 

no comment, so well is it known. Every family 

should have a large bottle of California olives 

25 



on the table to be served during every meal. 
The olive is most healthful and nutritious. In 
use of olives as of other California fruits these 
two points are often lost sight of. We eat 
t'hem as palatable, delicious dishes and often 
seem to think, forsooth, because they are so 
pleasing they must be unhealthful — when they 
have no equals as nutritious foods and as health- 
giving foods. "Don't eat too many, my child" 
should not be said to a youngster about Cali- 
fornia fruits any more than about breakfast 
foods or good bread and butter. 

Olive oil is the great health maker. It is 
superior to the animal cod liver oil as a builder 
up of tissue. Nothing will make children rosy 
and strong so quickly. Its demulcent and mildly 
laxative qualities, its ease of assimilation 
through the stomach or the skin, its great value 
as a natural food, its reconstructive properties, 
make its use in fevers, tuberculosis and similar 
wasting diseases, in nervous troubles, in diseases 
of children and above all in stomach troubles, 
invaluable. 

Use California olive oil on dry bread, on fish 
fresh or salted, on vegetables, on meats, on salads. 
A salad with olive oil stands as a luxury alone. 
If your children do not grow satisfactorily, give 
them olive oil and plenty of it. Nothing has 
so many substitutes or adulterants as olive oil. 
Avoid these, especially cotton-seed-oil mixtures, 
as you would poison. Buy only the high grade 
California oils with established reputations put 
up in the olive growing sections of the State. 

The Date — California dates are becoming a 
better known article of commerce as the increase 
in knowledge of the requirements of the date 
palm become known. In a little while this 
fine and nutritious fruit will, like the fig, be 
food for many who look to California for their 
fruits. 

26 



The Quince — This fruit reaches perfection in 
California, a quince weighing a pound being a 
common article. For preserving and jelly-making 
the California quince is unequalled. 



CHAPTER IX 

Oranges, Lemons and Grapefruit 

Of citrus fruits, the golden orange of Cali- 
fornia is king. All over the United States the 
Seedless or Navel or even seed oranges of Cali- 
fornia find a welcome more general and more 
hearty than that given any other fruit. Ripen- 
ing in the northern part of the State in Novem- 
ber and in the south just before Christmas, they 
are in the market practically the year round, 
being sweetest and best in the spring months. 

Here permit a suggestion and a prescription 
which will cost nothing. Instead of spring 
medicines and sarsaparillas, so called, have a box 
of juicy California oranges in the house. Eat 
one or two before breakfast each morning, or 
'serve sliced with sugar at breakfast. Eat one 
or two more in the evening — and you will be 
happier and healthier in the changes that spring 
brings than if you had a barrel of sarsaparilla 
on tap and drank it with caution by the spoonful 
or with recklessness from a dipper. 

Oranges won't hurt you, but as a laxative and 
tonic, will do you good. Yet there is a reason 
that will appeal to you more than the medicinal 
qualities of the fruit; it is a fruit which eating 
day after day does not tire; like the prune 
habit, it grows and keeps growing. The house- 
hold that buys a box of oranges and disposes 
of it in two days, then has no more for two 
weeks, is to be pitied; but oranges are cheap 
as a food and as a luxury, and the household 
27 



that provides two or three a day for each member 
the winter and spring through will be the happier 
and healthier and none the poorer. 

The luscious, delicious, large navel oranges are 
a delight to the eye and the palate; yet as 
sweet and juicy are the smaller California 
oranges. It is best to buy oranges by the box. 
Ask your dealer when a car is coming to town, 
and buy on arrival. This is much preferable 
to purchasing by the dozen from a box opened 
in cold weather, especially. There is a delightful 
aroma about an orange new from the box and 
not over ten days from the tree in California, 
that is hard to excel. 

The lemon is a California fruit par excellence, 
thriving to perfection in the ideal locations that 
frostless belts near salt water give it. 

The charm of the lemon is in its delightful 
acid flavor, which makes it the best flavoring 
known. After all what equals lemonade as a 
summer drink? — a cool, refreshing drink, very 
inexpensive, healthful and delightful. More lem- 
onade — less other concoctions, and the world would 
be better ofi". With lemons at present prices, 
the housewife may always have them in store, 
needing less of the "extract" which is neces- 
sarily more expensive. Besides, the lemon is 
pure — just lemon. 

The use of the lemon in the preparation of 
food is of so wide a range that it is not possible 
to print recipes here ; every intelligent housewife 
knows how many articles of food a "little lemon" 
will help. 

And a well-sugared lemon taken straight, 
especially as an aid in some diseases, is both 
pleasant and healthful. 

Of citrus fruits other than lemons and limes, 

California has many. The lime (adapted to 

lemon uses), the citron (notcAvorthy for its 

candied peel), the banana (hardly a commercial 

28 



fruit in California), the custard apple (a rich 
ice-cream, custard-flavored fruit), the chocho (a 
yam-like fruit), the guava (a fine jelly fruit), 
the granadilla (Australian passion vine fruit), 
the jujube (good for the confectioner), the loquat 
(a fine fruit for canning and preserving with 
cherry flavor), the persimmon (if you are from 
Virginia or the Orient, you know its epicurean 
quality), the pineapple (hardly a California com- 
mercial fruit), the pomegranate (a delightful 
fruit growing on a beautiful tree ) , the tree straw- 
berry, the tree melon, the alligator pear (the 
"mayonnaise" fruit, making salad in perfection), 
the tree tomato (try it stewed with sugar), the 
kai apple (for preserving) — these are minor 
fruits of California. 

Grapefruit will be found one of the most 
healthful and appetizing of fruits for the break- 
fast table. It is usually prepared a short time 
before using by cutting the fruit in halves mid- 
way between stem and blossom ends. Remove 
seeds and most of the white membrane surround- 
ing the pulpy sections as this contains the 
bitter. Fill the spaces thus created with sugar. 
A teaspoonful of claret or sherry wine is consid- 
ered an improvement by many. 

Orange Salad — Slice sour oranges and bananas 
in equal quantities. Mix and put on ice for 
an hour. Serve on crisp heart lettuce leaves 
with mayonnaise dressing. 

Glace Oraxges — Peel navel oranges, remove 
all the white from them and separate into 
sections. Dip each in clear candy syrup, lay on 
a dish and sift powdered sugar over them. 

Orange Filling for Cake — Take two oranges, 
juice and grated rind, two tablespoons cold 
water, two cupfuls sugar, two egg yolks and one 
of the whites. Place the oranges, water and 
sugar in saucepan, beat yolks with the other 
tablespoon of water and stir in the mixture in 



saucepan. Cook one minute, stir in the beaten 
white of one of the eggs. Use when cold. 

Grapefruit Salad — Grapefruit must be peeled 
and after dividing into sections every particle 
of the bitter white membrane covering the pulp 
must be removed. Place on ice for several hours 
and just before serving add a French dressing 
and serve on crisp heart leaves of lettuce. 

Marmalade — Slice six oranges, lemons or 
grapefruit very thin; remove seeds if any and to 
each pound of fruit add three pints of water. 
Let stand twenty-four hours, then boil until the 
skin is tender. After standing another twenty- 
four hours add one pound granulated sugar to 
each pound of fruit and boil about twenty minutes 
or until it jells. 

GuAVA Jelly — Prepare the fruit by removing 
the blossom end. Cover the fruit with water and 
boil same as other fruit; strain the juice through 
a jelly sack; add one-half pound granulated 
sugar to each pound of juice; boil until it jells. 
This makes a tine jelly in addition to being 
an excellent fruit for the table in its fresh state. 

Orange Short Cake — The orange makes a most 
delicious short cake. Peel the oranges, cut in 
small squares or thin slices, add a cup of sugar; 
allow to stand on back of stove while crust is 
baking. Serve hot. 

Lemon Salad — Use the crisp, tender leaves of 
one head of lettuce; break them into pieces 
about an inch square. Slice two lemons very 
thin; remove pith and seeds, cut slices into 
eighths, sprinkle a tablespoonful of sugar over 
them. Then mix through the lettuce. 

Lemon Pie — Two cups of boiling water, two 
cups of white sugar, two tablespoonfuls of corn- 
starch or flour stirred in. Boil just enough to 
thicken. When cool stir into this mixture the 
yolks of four eggs and one whole one well 
beaten. Add two lemons, grated peel and juice. 
30 



Beat the whites for a meringue and when pie 
is baked put it on top and brown lightly. 

Orange Pie — Squeeze the juice from two large 
oranges and grate the rind, mix together and 
save out one tablespoonful. Beat together one- 
half pound sugar, and one-quarter pound butter; 
add yolks of six eggs beaten light, and the 
orange juice. Stir in the whites of four eggs 
beaten to a froth and pour the mixture into 
pie-plates lined with puff paste. Bake in a 
quick oven and when done spread with a meringue 
made of the two remaining egg whites, two 
tablespoons powdered sugar, a pinch of soda, and 
the tablespoon of juice; brown in oven. This will 
make two pies. 

Mayonnaise Dressing — Beat a fresh egg with 
a Dover egg-beater, turning the wheel twenty-five 
times, and after adding a tablespoonful of Cali- 
fornia olive oil, beat again with twenty-five 
revolutions of the wheel. Add another table- 
spoonful of oil and again beat twenty-five times. 
Continue adding oil and beating until the dress- 
ing is as stiff as you desire. If this rule is 
faithfully followed the dressing will not curdle. 
Flavor to suit the taste. A tablespoonful of 
juice from a California lemon (never use vine- 
gar), a scant teaspoon of salt, a good dash of 
black pepper, probably half a teaspoon, and a 
pinch of cayenne will be found a good proportion 
of condiments. The best results are obtained 
by using an egg beater with a wheel at least 
three and a half inches in diameter. 

Orange Salad — Lay thin slices of oranges on 
a round platter, and pour a liberal quantity of 
stiff mayonnaise dressing, made as above, over 
them. Add a layer of sliced oranges and a layer 
of dressing, finishing with a tasteful design of 
sliced oranges. This makes one of the most 
delicious of all salads, and can be made in winter 
Avhen greens for salads are not at hand. 



Orange Cocktail (Sherry) — Serve in a cock- 
tail glass. Fill glass nearly full of pure orange 
juice, with a very little sugar (pulverized). Add 
tablespoonful of sherry and serve rather cold. 

Glenwood Okaxge Salad — Peel oranges, and 
cut into small cubes about half inch thick. Serve 
with mayonnaise dressing on a leaf of head- 
lettuce. 

Orangeade — To make two gallons of orangeade, 
add to three quarts of pure orange juice one 
of lemon juice and about one gallon of water. 
Sweeten to taste, and serve cold with chopped 
ice in tall glasses. This will be an absolute 
failure unless the lemon juice is added, as this 
furnishes the acidity and body for the drink 
w^ithout changing the color, which will be a 
beautiful yellow. 

Grapefruit Cocktail (JMaraschino) — Serve in 
cocktail glass. Fill glass nearly full of grape- 
fruit juice, with a little pulverized sugar, and 
stir until dissolved. Add tablespoonful of maras- 
chino, and serve rather cold. 

Glenw^ood Grapefruit Salad — Pare the grape- 
fruit and cut into small cubes. Serve with 
following dressing, and with border of chopped 
lettuce and sliced Japanese Comquot oranges, if 
possible: One teaspoon mustard, one teaspoon 
salt, two teaspoons flour, one teaspoon butter 
(melted), one and one-half teaspoons powdered 
sugar, few grains cayenne pepper, yolk of one 
egg, one-third cup hot vinegar, one-half cup thick 
cream. Mix dry ingredients. Add butter, egg, 
and vinegar slowly. Cook over boiling water, 
stirring constantly until mixture thickens. Cool 
and add to heavy cream, beaten till stiff. 

Glen wood Loganberry Punch — One quart of 
Loganberry juice, one quart of lemon juice, one 
quart of orange juice. Add four quarts of water, 
and sugar to taste. If desired, add pint bottle 
of claret. Serve cold, with plenty of chopped ice. 
33 



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